House of the Dragon Episode 10 Review – The Finale Commences The Dance of the Dragons!

The Game of Thrones universe is back with its latest GOT prequel is  about the house whose people are closer to gods than men. The house that tamed the greatest power the world has seen- dragons. The house our Mother of Dragons – Daenerys Stormborn belonged to: House Targaryen or rather House of the Dragon. The show focuses on the great Targaryen Civil War that was known to be the Dance of the Dragons. The war between Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Aegon II that destroyed House Targaryen from within. The house never recovered from the war’s loses. The war rendered all the dragons extinct. The show is based on another book of George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood. The pilot of the prequel became HBO’s biggest debut and has since continued its glorious run with each episodes seeing a rise in viewership numbers. The latest report suggests that the show has an average audience of 29 Million per episode, making it the biggest hit after Game of Thrones.  The show’s events are set 172 years before Daenerys Targaryen.

Season 1 is laying the foundation for the civil war and after episode 8 the show continues take the biggest steps towards the war. Viserys’ death while sad was inevitable to move forward the story. Episode 9 showed us the extent of the Greens’ treachery. Episode 9 ended with Aegon being named King but not before Rhaenys crashes the ceremony on Meleys and almost smokes the Greens. The events of the last episode coupled with the fact that this episode is the season finale, I was extremely excited to see which direction they take. Episode 9 was as good as the previous episodes but after watching the trailer, I was sure that the finale would explosive. After finally waiting for a painful week, I’ve seen it and let me tell you it didn’t disappoint. Let’s find out whether this one lives up to the quality of the others. So, without any further ado, let’s continue the Dragon Saga. Review Marathon – – Episode 1 / Episode 2 / Episode 3 / Episode 4 / Episode 5 / Episode 6 / Episode 7 / Episode 8 / Episode 9.

Episode – The Black Queen (SPOILERS AHEAD)

Rating – ★★★★★

House of the Dragon Episode 10 Review – Rhaenyra Becomes The Black Queen!

House of the Dragon Episode 10 begins with Lucerys Velaryon at Dragonstone where he is nervous about inheriting Driftmark but Rhaenyra being a good mother boosts his confidence. This is when she gets the message that Rhaenys has flown here all the way from King’s Landing. Rhaenys has an audience with Daemon and Rhaenyra where she delivers the news of Viserys’ passing along with the Greens seizing the throne. The news is so shocking for Rhaenyra that she goes into labor much sooner than expected.

Daemon along with the knights at Dragonstone begin to safe guard Dragonstone against any attacks from the Greens. Rhaenyra’s labor is a nightmare as her screams are heard in all the corridors of Dragonstone. She doesn’t let any maidens help her as she is in too much pain, finally the babe’s head comes out and Rhaenyra pulls it out by herself. She is stillborn. The scene is extremely graphic and almost as disturbing as Queen Aemma’s birth scene from the first episode.

Daemon and Rhaenyra are heartbroken as they’ve lost their child. We see Daemon’s vulnerable side. Rhaenyra swaddles her baby’s body and they cremate her. Ser Steffon Darklyn comes at the funeral and presents Rhaenyra with her father’s crown. Daemon takes the crown and puts it on Rhaenyra’s head crowning her Queen. He bends his knee to her and calls her his Queen. Following Daemon, everyone at the funeral bend the knee to Rhaenyra and accepts her as their Queen. This had to be one of the most powerful scene of the entire season.

Seeing Rhaenyra being Queen and everyone bowing down to her was one of the most satisfying moments of House of the Dragon. More than that just like he did for his brother Viserys, Daemon puts the crown on his wife’s head. Otto comes to Dragonstone with a message from Alicent, Daemon greets him with his charm. He asks for Rhaenyra and she flies over them with Syrax intimidating every Green present there. Rhaenyra tells him to address him as Queen. Otto reads the condition in front of Rhaenyra where she will accept Aegon II as king while she will get Dragonstone and Driftmark as per succession rules.

Rhaenyra, Otto and Daemon get into a heated discussion at the end of which swords are drawn, only for Otto to give Rhaenyra something from Alicent. It is a torn page from the the Septa’s book. It is supposed to be reminder of the love they shared for one another in their youth. Rhaenyra tells Otto that King’s Landing will receive her answer tomorrow. Rhaenyra after becoming the Queen has a decision to face whether to drag the entire realm into war or take no action.

Despite everyone’s advice in her court, Rhaenyra simply concentrates on collecting allies rather then launching a direct attack on King’s Landing with all the dragons they have. There is rift between Daemon and Rhaenyra due to this. Daemon is advising Rhaenyra to end the Greens with the might of their dragons as they have more than the Greens. However, Rhaenyra knows that when dragons fight, everything burns. She doesn’t want to rule over ashes. Oh my god, she reminds me so much of Danny.

Daemon believes this is Viserys’ speaking in Rhaenyra. He holds her by the neck in aggression after exhausting his patience. Rhaenyra tells him that he simply wants a war to quench his thirst for blood. He wants to murder Otto Hightower and thus he suggests war. Rhaenyra tries to explain Daemon about the Song of Ice and Fire which is a secret that her father passed on to her. Seeing how inconsequential it was for Daemon she realizes Viserys told about it to no one but her. She smiles to herself.

Daemon goes away to some place. Corlys is alive and reaches Dragonstone. Rhaenys and he share a dialogue where he is ready to give up his lust for the Iron Throne but Rhaenys reminds him of their grandchildren. She takes Rhaenyra’s side as she is the only one in the entire Seven Kingdoms who is avoiding war. I believe Rhaenys is seeing herself in Rhaenyra. Corlys comes to the court and pledges fealty to Rhaenyra. Rhaenys too is in full support of her claim to the throne. To gather allies, messages are sent.

Three spots are remaining- The Vale, Winterfell and Storm’s End. On the advice of her sons and the court members, Rhaenyra decided to send her two sons Jacaerys and Lucerys to give the messages. Jace to Winterfell and The Vale and Luke to Storm’s End. Rhaenyra promises them not to engage in any fighting as they’re messengers. Daemon goes to a cave like structure where he invokes he huge adult dragon. The dragon is not named but if I had to take a guess, it is Vermithor, who was King Jacaerys’ mount.

The dragon is absolutely huge but Daemon is not afraid, he looked straight into the dragon’s eye and possibly has claimed it. Vermithor is believed to be as big as Vhagar. Lucerys reaches Storm’s End where he sees Vhagar. Aemond is already there with an offer to Borros Baratheon. Borros makes fun of him as he doesn’t like Rhaenyra’s letter, he likes that Aegon II has sent a marriage offer to him. As Luke leaves, Aemond stops him and demands an eye. Before things go out of hand, Borros stops him.

However, as soon as Luke sits on Arrax and prepares to leave in the windy night, we see that in the dark sky, Vhagar’s shadow looms over them. Aemond demands an eye from Luke. From here starts one of the best action sequences I’ve seen in a TV for a while. It is dragons dogfighting but done much better then what we saw in Season 8, Episode 3 of Game of Thrones. Luke hides away with Arrax and surprises Vhagar as Arrax spits fire on him. This causes Vhagar to go out of control. Aemond cannot control him anymore.

Luke comes to the clear skies and we have one of the most dreadful silences as just when he looks ahead in the clear sky he sees Vhagar’s gaping mouth coming at him. Vhagar destroys Arrax with one bite and with him his rider Lucerys Velaryon as well. The last shot of the finale is Daemon telling Rhanyra about this incident but the words are inaudible to us. Rhaenyrs turns after listening to this and she is furious. Thus, becoming the Black Queen, ready for war. With that commences the Dance of the Dragons

Verdict

House of the Dragon Season 1 finale has delivered on every level that it was expected to. I always the thought the finale would be emotional and explosive but it was filled with so many empowering moments along with wholesome moments between characters. If you didn’t feel for Rhaenyra in the entire season you would in this episode. I love the parallels and references the show has given in the final episode. Rhaenyra’s horrific birthing scene is a callback to Aemma’s death, which happened in the first episode.

It is as if the series has come full circle. Another instant where they did this was when Rhaenyra flew over Dragonstone on Syrax when Otto came with the message, this happened in episode 2 when Otto had come to retrieve Baelon’s egg from Daemon. It is near recreation of the scene. It is done purposefully as it shows how much everyone has changed. How the sides have changed. Rhaenyra had flown to get the egg from Daemon and now she is Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen.

In that scene itself, Otto gives her a piece of paper that takes us back to the first episode where we see how close Rhaenyra and Alicent are. The last shot of the finale where Rhaenyra’s face is not visible while she gets the news of Luke’s death and then the way she turns, with that deathly stare, it reminded me of Game of Thrones Episode 4 when Missandei was killed by Cersie and then the Danny turned. One childish move from Aemond has resulted in a war. Rhaenyra would’ve the situation calmy but after her son’s death, I don’t think so.

House of the Dragon Season One’s finale was one of the best episodes in the GOT universe. I love the way this show is written. I love the way they directed the dogfight where we understand that Arrax is not even a quarter sized of what Vhagar is. The way we see a shadow of Vhagar over Arrax. House of the Dragon feels like something that is meticulously crafted and made simply to exploit the fanbase of Game of Thrones. The show will make you fall in love with itself by offering you something that only Game of Thrones could.

The standout performers from this season were Milly Alcock and Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra, followed by Paddy Considine as King Viserys I, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen and Emily Carey as Young Alicent. If I had to bet then Paddy Considine will win an Emmy next for best supporting actor. Three years after the terrible finale, it feels like the GOT universe is alive again. I can’t wait for Season 2. I know it will be out sometime in 2024 and trust me life till then will be grim. I love where this season has left all characters.

If the next season is crafted with this much love and care then it has potential to be better then this season as now the real Game of Thrones begin. House of the Dragon Episode 10 is drum please…..5 out of 5 stars. I have no complaints from this episode. It is everything I thought it would be and more. House of the Dragon is the best TV series of the year in my opinion and honestly the best piece of content that has come out this year. The final rating for House of the Dragon Season 1 is 4.5 out of 5 stars. It loses half a star only because of the excessive time jumps. Which were handled well but I’d like to see some of the events that took place in those skipped years. If you haven’t watched it already, check out House of the Dragon on HBO Max or Disney+ Hotstar, if not then you’ll be missing out on TV gold.

House of the Dragon has an incredible ensemble cast that includes Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans. Along with the main cast, the supporting cast of the show includes- Milly Alcock, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Emily Carey, Harry Collett, Ryan Corr, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jefferson Hall, David Horovitch, Wil Johnson, John Macmillan, Graham McTavish, Ewan Mitchell, Theo Nate, Matthew Needham, Bill Paterson, Phia Saban, Gavin Spokes, Savannah Steyn, and more.

All ten episodes of House of the Dragon Season One are currently streaming on HBO Max or Disney+. New episodes will debut on every Sunday or Monday on HBO and HBO Max or Disney+ Hotstar depending on the region you live in, at 9 pm or 6.30 am.

If you have any questions regarding House of the Dragon, feel free to ask in the comments below. For more content, stay tuned. As usual, like, subscribe and share our articles as we here are trying to build a community of people High on Cinema!